Originally Posted by
btonkid12345
It's possible, but equally possibly the GA did process C+ UG list then had leftover seats and went to the standby list. Rochester, NY (ROC) is a small market without many medallions, and a ROC-NYC flight will regularly have Golds and Silvers clear...a far cry from anything into ATL. The staff at ROC also seem to like to follow the rules with regards to UG lists, and are generally nice and approachable.
The person you quoted got rebooked on a flight from ROC->ATL, not NYC. I agree that ROC->LGA would likely go empty. ROC->ATL might not depending on the time of day. I agree that it is impossible to tell without more detail but the concept (standby clearing before upgrade list) is still very relevant to OP's question and something I see on 80-90% of my flights.